Jessica Milano (Moderator)

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Community Development, and Housing Policy

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Jessica Milano most recently served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Community Development, and Housing Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where she oversaw policy development on how more families, small businesses, and communities can access safe and affordable credit. In addition, she also managed three Treasury programs focused on access to capital; the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF), the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. Prior to joining the Department of the Treasury, Ms. Milano served as Senior Advisor to the Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Ms. Milano has extensive economic consulting and financial services experience. She previously held positions as Director of Research at Compass Lexecon, an economic consulting firm, and with Promontory Interfinancial Network, a financial services firm with a network of over 3,000 financial institutions. She also was a policy consultant at Civic Enterprises where she ran projects for a wide variety of clients including AARP, the Gates Foundation, OpportunityNation, and the White House Council for Community Solutions.

Ms. Milano is the author of several policy reports for the Progressive Policy Institute/Democratic Leadership Council on topics including economic security, job creation, and investment and innovation. She holds a M.A. in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and received her B.S. in Government from the London School of Economics.